Top image: sent to PostSecret from someone anonymous.
Lower image: made by me in response to the one above it.
In middle school and high school I was mean to my friends until my youth pastor called me out on it. "I'm just kidding" is a very empty excuse for saying hurtful words. I gradually started to catcg myself, and gradually started to notice it more in others. I made new friends in tenth grade whose humor was based on being goofy, not mean, and tried to adopt for myself.
I think sarcasm can be a really brilliant type of humor. I also think way too many people who don't understand sarcasm pride themselves on being sarcastic. Exaggeratingly insulting someone is not sarcasm. True, real, witty, respectable sarcasm says one thing and means the opposite (this comes from the definition).
For example, if someone spills coffee on themselves they might say, "Great, just great. I'm having the best day ever." They say one thing and mean the opposite.
Rudeness and bullying is often mislabeled as sarcasm. Here's an example: Harry Potter trips on the moving staircase and Ron Wesley says, "Wow you are the klutziest person I've ever met." Here, the intention of the joke is to actually point out Harrys's klutziness. It's not clever and it's not sarcasm. It would only be sarcasm if he were really trying to convey the opposite, "You are very graceful, Harry."
Insults can only count as sarcasm if the meaning of them is their opposite. Here's an example.
Hermione: Oh my gosh, I can't believe I only made an A- on my potions exam! I know I should have studied harder.
Harry: You're right Hermione, you're such a stupid loser. Only an idiot would make an A- on her potions exam.
This counts as sarcasm because Harry calls Hermione stupid in order to make the point that Hermione is smart.
To the people who are reading this blog: you are probably someone I know in real life and you are probably someone I count as a friend, which would definitely place you in the category of, "Doesn't insult Kirby for laughs." So, thank you for having a smart, kind sense of humor.
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